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IRAN-FLOOD
Iran floods kill at least three: reports
TEHRAN, Jan 14, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Flooding in southern Iran has killed at
least three people and left hundreds of villages cut off following days of
heavy rainfall, official media reported on Tuesday.
“So far three people have been confirmed dead and one has been reported
missing,” Press TV, the English-language service of state television,
reported on its website.
Rescue teams used boats and helicopters to provide relief after
floodwaters cut off road access to urban areas of Hormozgan, Kerman and
Sistan-Baluchistan provinces, state news agency IRNA said.
They have so far been unable to reach the town of Qasr-e Qand and 40
surrounding villages in Sistan-Baluchistan, said governor Rahimbaksh
Pakandish, cited by IRNA.
Five hundred villages were affected and thousands of homes destroyed or
damaged in the southeastern province, IRNA reported, adding that 285 families
were given emergency shelter in Red Crescent tents.
“More than 20,000 people in villages of Sistan-Baluchistan province have
lost their homes because of flooding or are surrounded by water,” Deputy
Health Minister Alireza Raisi was quoted as saying.
The Revolutionary Guards distributed 1,000 food packages to those
affected, said IRNA.
In Kerman province, roads were severed and 40 villages suffered damage,
while in Hormozgan province 61 people were rescued.
The amount of rain that fell in the southwestern province of Hormozgan
since Friday was “unprecedented”, the semi-official ISNA news agency
reported.
Floodwaters had surrounded more than 50 villages in the Gulf province.
“Unprecedented floods are ravaging #Iran’s Sistan & Baluchistan province,
with significant human & material costs,” Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad
Zarif tweeted on Monday night.
The flood disaster is the worst in Iran since at least 70 people were
killed across 20 provinces in April.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1625 hrs